The Shubert Archive

In 1976, The Shubert Archive began to organize the papers and business records of the Shubert brothers into a comprehensive archive. Under the direction of Brooks McNamara (Professor Emeritus, New York University) and former archivist Brigitte Kueppers, more than six million documents related to the Shuberts' theatrical activities were acquired and integrated into the Archive. The Shubert Archive collection - more than a century's worth of costume and set designs, scripts, music, publicity materials, photographs, correspondence, business records and architectural plans - was made available to researchers in the fall of 1986. It has grown substantially over the years and continues to expand with contemporary company records.

In 2002, the Archive celebrated the centennial of The Shubert Organization with the publication of The Shuberts Present: 100 Years of American Theater (Abrams, 2001) and a special issue of The Passing Show, its free annual newsletter. And in 2002, the Archive launched a database project that will eventually make some of its finding aids and selected collections accessible to researchers on the Web.